Sanctuary Vegan Cafe Brings Plant-Based Cuisine to West Knoxville

Sanctuary Vegan Cafe Brings Plant-Based Cuisine to West Knoxville

We were lucky enough to have KnoxVegan.com do a article on our opening.

As of Dec. 15th, Knoxville officially has a 100% vegan restaurant! Now open at 151 N. Seven Oaks Drive in Windsor Square, Sanctuary Vegan Cafe offers what owner Leslie Naylor calls “everyday comfort food”—mac and cheese, lentil meatball hoagies, nachos, buffalo tofu fingers, and much more. All of this plant-based goodness isn’t just for vegans, though. The menu was designed to appeal to anyone who likes hearty favorites made with love from fresh, local, and organic ingredients.

The steady flow of customers Sanctuary Vegan Cafe has seen since opening confirms that the time has definitely come for something like this. In fact, Leslie would go a step further: “It’s past time. People come in and say, ‘I’ve been waiting for this!’ and I say, ‘Me too!'”

When Leslie and her youngest daughter moved to Knoxville, vegan-friendly restaurants were limited. The Tomato Head was the only place they frequented, outside of trips to Asheville to visit eateries like Bean and Rosetta’s Kitchen. But it didn’t take long for that to get frustrating. “I made this my mission,” Leslie says. “I wanted vegan food, all the vegan food, and I had to drive at least an hour and a half to get it, and that’s ridiculous.” Begging the owners of Bean to open a location in Knoxville simply didn’t cut it, and Leslie decided to do something about it herself.